Group backs longer school day

Tuesday

Apr 2, 2013 at 6:00 AMApr 2, 2013 at 7:11 PM

By Jacqueline Reis TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

Advocates for longer school days and years will announce a coalition today that is backing Gov. Deval L. Patrick's proposal to increase the number of expanded learning time grants and target them at high-poverty middle schools.

In wide-ranging education proposals the governor announced in January, he included money for longer school days or years in middle schools in Gateway Cities, midsize urban centers that face similar challenges. In Central Massachusetts, they include Worcester, Fitchburg and Leominster.

If the proposal goes through the state Legislature unchanged, it would be the first time charter schools could qualify for expanded learning time grants, although many charter schools already offer extended time.

According to Massachusetts 2020, a Boston-based organization that has worked since 2000 to expand the school year, charter and district schools in Worcester could stand to gain almost $6.3 million in such grants, while Fitchburg could see $1.6 million and Leominster could receive almost $705,000. The governor's plan would add $5 million to the grant pot the first year and gradually increase it to $70 million, Mass 2020 co-founder Chris Gabrieli said in a conference call Monday.

Whether the Legislature will agree to that plan is unknown, but the coalition — which includes business leaders, the Massachusetts Teachers Association, Stand for Children and the Massachusetts Charter Public School Association — hopes to sway them.

State Education Secretary Matthew H. Malone said he is optimistic. The idea is to target students who might not have anything else to do after school and who could benefit from an extra academic boost before high school. “We feel and the governor feels strongly that this is going to allow us to increase opportunities and close achievement gaps,” he said. A visit to UP Academy Charter School in Boston, which has the fastest test score growth in the state, showed him what more time can do. Time is “the biggest leverage point for them to get those results,” he said.

Revere Superintendent Paul Dakin said in a conference call Monday that extra hours help districts get students who frequently change schools get caught up, and helps keep them out of trouble. “At the end of the middle school day, we worry about what kids in urban settings are doing,” he said.

In Central Massachusetts, the only state-funded expanded learning time middle school is Fitchburg's Arthur M. Longsjo Middle School. The school has had longer days for five years. In addition to more time for academics and enrichment for students, it has given teachers weekly common planning time, said Principal Craig S. Chalifoux.

“There's strength in numbers, and I think the culture around collaboration ... has been a critical piece, too,” Mr. Chalifoux said.

He said the expanded instruction time is a “very positive step” for students.

“I know for at least our students it gives them an opportunity to at least be involved in a lot of very positive experiences,” Mr. Chalifoux said.

Every teacher in his school works the full, expanded day, but that isn't always true for expanded learning time grant recipients. At Worcester's City View and Jacob Hiatt Magnet schools, some staff leave at the end of the regular school day.

Those are not the only schools in Worcester with longer days, however. At Union Hill, Chandler Elementary Community and Burncoat Street Preparatory School, the entire staff works a longer day, but teachers are paid less than their regular rate for those extra hours.

City View Principal Albert G. Ganem Jr., like Mr. Chalifoux, echoed the benefit of common planning time for teachers and the extended time for students. Unlike Longsjo, City View has a high percentage of English language learners, and they are benefitting from their time in a language lab in addition to regular classrooms, Mr. Ganem said. The school believes so much in extra hours that they even have Saturday school, but that is paid for by federal money, he said.

While their MCAS scores were low, students at both Longsjo and City View are making at least a year's worth of progress in an academic year, according to state figures.

The extra time might seem like common sense, but it only works when it is targeted at what students need, Mr. Gabrieli said. An extra hour of math class is not as useful as an extra hour of personalized help on what a student is struggling with most, he pointed out.

Contact Jacqueline Reis via email at jreis@telegram.com and follow her on Twitter @JackieReisTG.